Means for operating doors.



No; 703,433... Patented my l, |902; 1 F.. MAceYfl m-:Ans Fon oPEnATmGnouns.

' (Application led Dec. 24, 1900.)

.A (.llo Ilodel.) 'l

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

. 1 FRANK MAoEr, oF vGRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

MEANS FOR OPERATING DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,433, dated July 1,-1902.

Application led December 24,1900. Serial No. 40,898. (No model.)

To all whomit 11e/.ty concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK MACEY, a citizen of theUnitedStates;residingat Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means forOperating Doors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse'thesame.

My invention relates to improvements in means for operating doors, andmore particularly to operating the doors of book-cases and other likearticles of furniture having doors adapted to turn from a vertical to ahorizontal position and to run back into the case.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap and simple deviceadapted to cause the door to run-back into the case automatically,

to guide the door so vthatitwill run'freely without binding, to holdnthe door closed at the bottonLand to provide'the device withl certainnew'and useful features hereinafter more fully described, andparticularly point? ed out in the claims.

My device consists, essentially, in combining with the door aspring-actuated roll and cords wound on said roll by the action of thespring and attached to the door and opposing cords also connected to thedoor and roll, together with certain guide-rolls engaging the cords, aswill more fullyappear by reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan view of a device embodying my invention; Fig.2, an enlarged partial vertical section showing an inside end elevationof the same; Fig. 3, a detail in vertical section on the line 3 3 ofFig. l; Fig. 4, a detail showing an inside elevation of an upper cornerof the door and parts adjacent; Fig. 5, a detail showing one end of thespring-actuated roll and parts adjacent, and Fig. 6 a perspectivedetail'of' a hook-plate.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

A represents a portion of a book-case.

B is the door of the case, adapted to turn to a horizontal position andslide inward on ways C in the ends of the case.

D is a spring-actuated roll journaled in the .the cords G are woundthereon.

ends of the case and extending across the upper rear portion thereof. i

A F is'a suitable spring for actuating the roll D, having one endsecured to the roll'D and the other end held stationary by connectingthe same vto the rear wall of the case. This spring tends to rotate theroll in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig..2 and winds thecords G on the roll D. Thesecords vare'attache'dv to the roll D andextend to the front B andare attached thereto, whereby when the front israised to a horizontal position the cords G pull the front back into thecase. Extending from the opposite side of the roll D and windin goppositely thereon are c ords G', which are also attached to the frontand engage grooved guide-rolls I, journaled onsuitable supports near thefront of the case. The cords G are also engaged with other guiderolls Hbeneath the roll D, whereby the cords are held below the planevofthefront'andthe roll'D also held in place. The cords G are thus woundupon the roll Dkas the cords G are unwound andare unwound therefrom asThe cords G and Gbeing oppositely wound upon` the roll D and extendingin a circuit around the roll I and attached to the front are strainedtight at all times and operate to so' limit the movement of the front atits respective ends that it moves simultaneously exactly the samedistance at each end, thus effectually preventingall binding of the doorin the case. To adjustably attach the cords to thelfront and to providepivot-hooks for the front, plates K are attached to the front bysuitable screws andprovided with inwardly-projecting hooks .I at oneside, adapted to engage the supports for the rolls I and pivotallysupport the door thereon. Said plates are also provided with openings Kand K, through which the cords G and G are inserted and extended'betweenthe plate andthe front, being'thus securely attached to the front andreadily adjustedby loosening the screws that hold theplate. vThe cord Gis attached below the supports for the roll I, and the cord G extendsbeneath the said roll and thence upward, whereby the strain on saidcords tends to hold the front closed at the bottom. lW'hen the front isopened, the cord G passes the support for the roll I. Thus when the dooris closed and the cord below IOO the supports for the roll I the tensionof the spring holds the l'ront closed, and when the frontis horizontalthe cord Gis above the axis of the said supports and the spring tends topull the front into the case.

To provide a reduced middle portion to the roll D to economize space andmaterial and provide room for the spring F and also securely attach thepivot-pins M thereto, the roll is made in three parts, the middleconsisting of a suitable round rod E, the ends E' consisting ofcylindrical portions of larger diameter and having an axial openingextending throughout and reduced at one end to receive a suitable headedrivet M, forming a pivot-pin. The end of the rod D abuts against thehead of the pin M and securely holds it in place in the roll. The springF is secured to the roll by inserting one end of the same in the portionE', and the other end is held stationary byinserting it in an opening inthe spring-case L, as at F'. This spring-case consists of a suitablepiece of sheet metal bent in semicylindrical form extended in parallelplanes and flanged and secured to the back of the case. The roll isdetachably journaled in the case .A by inserting the pivot-pins M inupwardly-open slots l\ in the ends of the said case and is held thereinby the engagement of the cords G with the rolls H.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with a case and a front adapted to run into the case,a roll, a spring to rotate the roll, cords attached to the front andwound upon the roll bythe action of the spring and operating to pull thefront into the case, and cords attached tothe front and oppositely woundupon the rolls and acting to restrain the inward movement of the front,substantially as described.

2. The combination of a case, a front adapted to turn from vertical tohorizontal position and run back into the case, a roll journaled in thecase, a spring to rotate the roll, cords attached to the roll and frontand wound on the roll by the spring, and cords wound on the rolloppositely to the iirst-named cords, and attached to the front, andguide-rolls at the front of the case engaging the last-named cords,substantially as described.

3. The combination of a case, a front adapted to turn to a horizontalposition and run into the case, a roll journaled in the case, a springto operate the roll, cords attached to the roll and front and Wound onthe roll by the action of the spring, cords wound on the roll oppositelyto the first-named cords and attached to the front, and guide-rolls nearthe front and rear of the case, and engaging the last-named cords,substantially as described.

4. The combination ofa case, a front adapted to turn from vertical tohorizontal and to run back into the case, hooks on the front, a supportat the front ofthe case pivotally and detachably engaged by the hooks, aspring to constantly pull inward on the front, means for connecting thespring to the front at a point shifting from below the supports when thefront is vertical, to above the supports when the front is horizontal,whereby the bottom of the front is held closed when the front isvertical, and the front pulled into the case when the frontjshorizontal, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a case,afront,adapt ed to turn from vertical tohorizontal position, a hook, on the front, a support at the front of thecase pivotally engaged by the hook, a roll journaled in the case, aspring to rotate the roll, and a cord attached to the roll, and

wound on the same, and also attached to the front, below the support,whereby the spring pulls the lower part of the front inward, holds thefront closed when the front is vertical and pulls the front into thecase when the frontis horizontal, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a case, a front, a roll journaled in the case,cords connecting the roll and front, supports near the front of thecase, plates attached to the front having openings to receive the cords,and hooks on the plates engaging the supports, substantially asdescribed.

7,. The combination of a case, a front, a roll journaled in the case, aspring to operate the roll, cords wound on the roll by the spring andconnected to the front, guide-rolls near the front of the case, cordsattached to the springactuated roll and engaging the guide-rolls, plateshaving openings to receive the cords and attached to the front,hooks on.said plates to engage the supports of the guide-rolls, and screws to adjustably secure the plates and clamp the cords between the plates and thefront. substantially as described.

8. The combination of a case having upwardly-open slots, arolldetachably journaled in the slots,guiderolls below said roll, a front,cords connecting the roll and front and engaging said guide-rolls,guide-rolls near the front oi' the case engaged by said cords, and cordsextending directly from the roll to the front, substantially asdescribed.

9. The combination of a case, a front adapted to turn from vertical tohorizontal position, hooks on the front, supports at the front of thecase pivotally engaged by the hooks, guide-rolls on the supports, a rolljournaled in the case, a spring to rotate the roll, cords wound on theroll by the spring and connected to the front below the supports, whenthe front is closed, and adapted to pass above the rolls and supportswhen the front is opened, and cords wound on the rolls oppositely to thefirst-named cords, and passing under the guide-rolls and thence upwardand attached to the front above the guide-rolls, substantially asdescribed.

l0. The combination of a case, a front adapted to turn from vertical tohorizontal position and run back into the case, a roll IOO IIO

journaled in the case, cords wound on the cords oppositeiy wound on theroll, andoproll and attached to `the front, and cords erating to limitthe movement of the front Wound on the roll oppositely tol theirstandprevent binding of the same in the case, named cords and alsoattached to the front, a spring to rotate the roll, substantially as1r55 and guide-rolls at `the front of the case 4endescribed.

A gaging the last-named cords, whereby the In testimony whereof I affixmy signature front is prevented from binding in the case, in presence oftwo Witnesses.

substantially as described. FRANK MACEY.

1l. The combination of a case, a front. Witnesses: xo adapted to turnfrom vertical to horizontal v `PALMER A.`J ONES,

position and to run back into the case, a roll, LUTHER V. MOULTON.

